The contribution of archaeology to the history of the vine and wine

     On the basis of fossil findings the development of the vine can be traced back as far as the early Cretaceous period. The oldest reliable evidence of the existence of the family Visit, to which also the vine belongs, are from the Tertiary. Although man has known the wild vine since early Paleolith, it can only be spoken about the beginning of the cultivation of the vine after the transition from the Copper into the early Bronze Age when in the territories of the Near East the change to polycultural farming occurred. From here viniculture spread to Mesopotamia, Egypt and into the Aegean territory. Greek colonisation and trade also spread the habit of consuming wine into Adriatic territories, western Mediterranean and far inside Europe of the Iron Age, while its growing in our region spread later whit the Roman expansion. Since then the wine has been, together whit the olive tree, the most important cultural plant.